Animal grooming tool

ABSTRACT

An animal grooming tool ( 10, 10′, 10 ″) that allows a user to spray an animal with a liquid and squeegee excess water from the animal. Spraying and squeegeeing may be performed substantially simultaneously with one another in one motion, if desired. The grooming tool includes a tubular body ( 14 ) having a plurality of liquid outlets ( 22 ) located along the length of the tool. The body defines a central passageway ( 18 ) for conveying liquid to the outlets. Scrapers ( 42 ) for providing the tool with its squeegee capability are located adjacent the liquid outlets. The grooming tool further includes a handle region ( 54 ) and a grip ( 58 ) adjacent one end of the body. A portion of the body is curved to form a concave region ( 20 ) so that the tool better conforms to the curved surfaces typically found on the animals groomed with the tool.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority of, and incorporatesherein in its entirety, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/384,799 filed May 30, 2002, and entitled “Wash Wand.”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of animalhusbandry. More particularly, the present invention is directed to ananimal grooming tool.

BACKGROUND

The care and grooming of domesticated animals can be a difficult, dirtyand time-consuming task. For example, washing and grooming a largeanimal such as a horse can take an hour or more using conventionalmethods utilizing an ordinary garden-type hose, soap, brush and,perhaps, a squeegee. A horse is but one example of an animal thatrequires cleaning from time to time. Other examples include dogs andfarm animals that are shown at state fairs, local farm shows and thelike wherein the animals must be clean and well groomed. Such showanimals are often relatively large animals, such as bovine, goats, sheepand pigs, among others. Accordingly, it is often desirable to clean andgroom relatively large animals on a routine basis to maintain the wellbeing of the animals and/or prepare the animals for showing and,depending on where the animals are kept, maintain the well being oftheir caretakers and others.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a tool for sprayinga liquid. The tool comprises an elongate body having a first end, asecond end and a length extending between the first and second ends. Aplurality of liquid outlets is located on the elongate body andpositioned along the length. Each of the plurality of liquid outlets isconfigured for emitting the liquid. At least one scraper is attached tothe body and extends in a direction substantially along the length. Inanother aspect, the present invention is directed to a tool for sprayinga liquid. The tool comprises an elongate body having a first end, asecond end and a length extending between the first and second ends. Theelongate body includes an elongate concavely curved region extendingfrom proximate the first end to proximate the second end along thelength. A plurality of liquid outlets are located in the concavelycurved region and are positioned along the length. The plurality ofliquid outlets are configured for emitting the liquid from the tool.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the drawings show a formof the invention that is presently preferred. However, it should beunderstood that the present invention is not limited to the precisearrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a grooming tool of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the grooming tool ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the grooming tool as takenalong line 3—3 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A–4C illustrate several spray patterns that may be achieved witha grooming tool of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic of a grooming system of the present invention thatincludes a soap-dispensing feature;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of an alternative embodiment of a groomingtool of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the alternative embodiment of thegrooming tool as taken along lines 7—7 of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals indicate likeelements, FIGS. 1–3 show in accordance with the present invention agrooming tool, which is denoted generally by the numeral 10. A user mayuse grooming tool (10) to wash an animal (not shown) by allowing theuser to spray a liquid, such as water, water/shampoo solution orwater/conditioner solution, onto the animal to rinse, wash, and/or applya conditioner to the animal. Grooming tool 10 may be provided with otherfeatures that allow the user to shed the liquid and any dirt presentfrom the animal and/or further groom the animal. Liquid and/or dirt maybe gently shed from the coat using grooming tool 10 to lightly scrape,or squeegee, the coat by moving the tool in the growth direction of thecoat hair, if any. If desired, the user can use grooming tool 10 tospray the liquid and squeegee the animal's coat substantiallysimultaneously with one another to force water, loose hair, dirt, andother foreign material from the coat in one motion.

Grooming tool 10 may be adapted for use with animals of various sizes.For example, in one configuration, grooming tool 10 may be sized and/orshaped for grooming dogs, sheep, goats, swine or other similarly sizedanimals. In another configuration, grooming tool 10 may be sized and/orshaped for grooming larger animals, such as horses, cattle and othersimilarly sized livestock. Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatthe various features of the present invention described below may beincorporated into any tool wherein a spraying feature and a scrapingfeature are desirable alone or in combination with one another.

Grooming tool 10 may include a generally elongated body 14 defining acentral passageway 18 for receiving water, water/soap solution or otherliquid supplied to the tool from a liquid source (not shown), such as ahose or the like. A portion of body 14 may be curved to define a concaveregion 20 in order to better conform tool 10 to the typically curvedsurfaces of animals that the tool is designed to engage. Those skilledin the art will readily appreciate that if concave region 20 isprovided, the type and extent of its curvature may be any suitable forthe size and/or type of animal(s) for which tool 10 is designed. Forexample, if tool 10 is configured for use with horses, concave region 20may define an arc of a circle having a radius of, e.g., 18 inches to 30inches (46 cm to 76 cm) and an included angle of, e.g., 20° to 30°. Asthose skilled in the art will readily appreciate, these radii andincluded angles are merely exemplary and may be other values determinedbased upon design conditions and other factors. As a further example,concave region 20 of grooming tool 10 configured for medium size dogsmay define an arc of a circle having a radius of, e.g., 8 inches to 14inches (20 cm to 36 cm) and an included angle of, e.g., 35° to 45°.Again, those skilled in the art will appreciate that these radii andincluded angles are merely illustrative.

Tool 10 may be made of any suitable material desired, such as metal,e.g., aluminum, among others, or plastic, e.g., polyvinyl chloride(PVC), among others. In one configuration, the liquid source may be aconventional garden-type hose. Body 14 may include a plurality of liquidoutlets 22 disposed along its length. Outlets 22 may simply be theaperture-type outlets shown or may be more elaborate devices, such asnozzles, e.g., nozzles 26 of FIG. 7. If nozzles are used, each nozzlemay be adjustable with respect to spraying direction, spray pattern,e.g., flat, circular, dispersed, and jet, among others, and/or flowrate. Those skilled in the art will appreciate the variety of nozzlesthat may be provided.

Outlets 22 may be configured so that the noise caused by a liquidflowing therethrough is minimized. In particular, it is sometimesdesirable to eliminate the “hissing” noise commonly experienced withconventional spray nozzles. This can be important because many largeanimals instinctively associate such a hissing noise with snakes andother threatening animals. Eliminating this hissing noise reduces thechance of an animal being groomed with a grooming tool being startledand posing a risk to themselves and/or the groomer or others in closeproximity to the animal during grooming.

Outlets 22 may be arranged in any suitable arrangement, such as a singlerow or multiple staggered or non-staggered rows, among others. Outlets22 may be configured to direct liquid out of central passageway 18 so asto form a converging pattern 30 (FIG. 4A). Of course, outlets 22 may beconfigured to direct water in a non-converging pattern, e.g., a parallelpattern 34 (FIG. 4B) or a diverging pattern 38 (FIG. 4C), among others.Those skilled in the art will understand the variety of spray patternspossible and how to implement the spray pattern(s) chosen for aparticular configuration of tool 10.

Referring again to FIGS. 1–3, grooming tool 10 may include one or morescrapers 42 extending along elongated body 14, e.g., adjacent the one ormore rows of outlets 22. Each scraper 42 generally allows a user tosqueegee water, shampoo, other liquid and/or dirt from an animal duringthe grooming process. For example, if at least one scraper 42 ispositioned adjacent outlets 22, the user may use both the spray featureand squeegee feature at substantially the same time. That is, the usermay move grooming tool 10 along the animal's body with the one ofscrapers 42 on the trailing side of outlets 22 contacting the animal andthe tool oriented so that it sprays water generally toward the animaland in the direction the user is moving the tool. Alternatively, theuser may use the squeegee feature independently of the wash feature,e.g., after the user has washed or rinsed the animal using the sprayfeature and/or other tools. In this case, the user would typically spraythe liquid while holding tool 10 spaced from the animal's body.

Each scraper 42 may have any suitable cross-sectional shape, such as thegenerally triangular shape shown in FIG. 3, so long as it provides therequisite squeegee function. Generally, however, each scraper 42 willtypically have a contact edge 46 defined by two surfaces 50 that form anangle θ of 90° or less. Scrapers 42 may be made of the same material asbody 14 and may be formed integrally with the body or, alternatively,may be formed separately from the body and attached thereto in anysuitable manner, such as welding, bonding, or mechanical fastening orinterference fit, among others. For example, each scraper 42 may beattached to body 14 by engaging the suitably shaped scraper with acorresponding like-shaped channel (not shown) formed on the body.Scraper(s) 42 may alternatively be made of a material different than thematerial of body 14. For example, body 14 may be made of aluminum andscrapers 42 of rubber. Those skilled in the art will understand thevariety of configurations of body 14 and scraper(s) 42 and the ways thescraper(s) may be attached to the body, such that exhaustive lists neednot be provided herein for those skilled in the art to appreciate thebroad scope of the present invention.

In general, body 14 may have any cross-sectional shape desired, such asrectangular, triangular, circular or oval, among others. If body 14 hasa rectangular, triangular, or similar cross-sectional shape, one or moreof the longitudinal edges formed by these shapes may provide the one ormore scrapers. (FIGS. 6 and 7 show this in connection with a squarecross-sectional shape.) Alternatively, one or more suitable scrapers 42,such as scrapers having a polygonal cross-sectional shape may beprovided in addition to the longitudinal edges of body 14.

Body 14 may also include a handle region 54 adjacent at one end of thebody that allows a user to maintain a firm grip on grooming tool 10.Handle region 54 may be part of body 14 or may be part of another member(not shown) attached to the body. Handle region 54 may include a grip 58made of, e.g., a suitable non-slip material, such as open cell foamrubber, among others. Tool 10 may also be provided with a valve 62 forturning the flow of liquid to liquid outlets 22 off and on and/orotherwise regulating the flow of liquid emitted from the outlets. Valve62 may also be adjustable to allow the user to control the sound, e.g.,hissing sound, emitted from tool 10 for the reasons discussed above.Tool 10 may further include a fitting 66, e.g., a quick-connect orthreaded fitting, among others, for attaching the tool to a watersource, such as a hose, e.g., a garden-type hose.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of a grooming tool 10′ of the presentinvention that may be used in conjunction with a shampoo and/orconditioner dispensing system 70. Dispensing system 70 may include areservoir 74 for storing a liquid shampoo or conditioner and a hose orother conduit 78 for carrying the shampoo or conditioner to groomingtool 10′. Alternatively, reservoir 74 may be fixedly attached togrooming tool 10′. Although a liquid dispensing system 70 is shown,those skilled in the art will appreciate that in alternativeembodiments, shampoo or conditioner may be in another form, such aspowder.

Grooming tool 10′ may include a mixing device, e.g., a venturi mixer 82,for mixing shampoo or conditioner with water supplied to the tool via ahose or other liquid conduit 84. If a venturi mixer is used, the mixingfunction may be controlled using a vacuum inlet (not shown) in fluidcommunication with the venturi mixer. The vacuum inlet may be providedin handle region 54′ so that it is readily accessible to a user. Tocause shampoo/conditioner to be drawn into mixer 82, the user wouldcover the vacuum inlet, e.g., with his/her thumb, thereby causing asuction force within conduit 78 that draws the shampoo into the mixer.To stop shampoo/conditioner from being drawn into mixer 82, the userwould uncover the vacuum inlet thereby causing air to be drawn into themixer through the vacuum inlet rather than the shampoo/conditioner beingdrawn into the mixer. In alternative embodiments, theshampoo/conditioner need not be mixed with water, but may be appliedusing a separate dispensing system (not shown) that operates in parallelwith the water spraying system. Those skilled in the art will understandthe many variations of dispensing systems 70 that may be used withgrooming tool 10′.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another grooming tool 10″ of the present invention.Grooming tool 10″ may fitted with a grooming attachment 86, such as acomb or brush. Grooming attachment 86 may be permanently or removablymounted to grooming tool 10″, e.g., on the backside of the tool, i.e.,the side of the tool opposite liquid outlets 22′. In the embodimentshown, grooming tool 10″ may include a longitudinal channel 90 forreceiving therein a spline 94 of grooming attachment 86.

While the present invention has been described in connection withpreferred embodiments, it will be understood that it is not so limited.On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modificationsand equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined above and in the claims appended hereto.

1. A tool for spraying a liquid, comprising: a) an elongate body havinga first end, a second end, a length extending between said first andsecond ends, and a handle region proximate said first end; b) aplurality of liquid outlets located at least on one side of saidelongate body and positioned along said length, each of said pluralityof liquid outlets configured for emitting the liquid; c) at least onescraper attached to said body and extending in a direction substantiallyalong said length, wherein said scraper has an elongated free edge thatlies in a first vertical reference plane when said body is substantiallyhorizontal with the liquid outlets facing generally verticallydownwardly; d) wherein the liquid outlets are configured and located onsaid body so as to emit liquid in a plurality of streams that lie in asecond vertical reference plane when said body is substantiallyhorizontal with the liquid outlets facing generally verticallydownwardly, and wherein the second plane in which the liquid streams areemitted is both parallel to and horizontally offset to one side of thefirst plane which contains the free edge of the scraper such that thefree edge of the scraper is horizontally offset on said body from theliquid outlets when said body is substantially horizontal with theliquid outlets facing generally vertically downwardly; and e) whereinthe free edge of the scraper is positioned on said body to be at leastsubstantially as low as the liquid outlets when said body issubstantially horizontal with the liquid outlets facing generallyvertically downwardly.
 2. A tool according to claim 1, wherein said atleast one scraper is formed integrally with said elongate body.
 3. Atool according to claim 1, further including a fitting carried on thehandle region for connecting said elongate body to a water hose.